CHAPTER VIII
SOME CONJECTURES
Mr. Gustave Schultze dropped in to see Mr. Latham after luncheon, andlistened with puckered brows to a recital of the substance of thedetective's preliminary report, made the afternoon before.
"Mr. Birnes left here rather abruptly," Mr. Latham explained inconclusion, "saying he would see me again, either last night orto-day. He has not appeared yet, and it may be that when he comes hewill be able to add materially to what we now know."
The huge German sat for a time with vacant eyes.
"Der gread question, Laadham," he observed at last, gravely, "issvere does Vynne ged dem."
"I know that--I know it," said Mr. Latham impatiently. "That is thevery question we are trying to solve."
"Und if we don'd solve him, Laadham, ve'll haf to do vatever as hesays," Mr. Schultze continued slowly. "Und ve _may_ haf to dovatever as he says, anywhow."
"Put one hundred million dollars into diamonds in one year--just thefive of us?" demanded the other. "It's preposterous."
"Id _iss_ brebosterous," the German agreed readily; "but das iss noargument." He was silent for a little while. "Vere does he ged dem?Vere does he ged dem?" he repeated thoughtfully. "Do you believe,Laadham, it vould be bossible to smuggle in dwenty, d'irty, einhundred million dollars of diamonds?"
"Certainly not," was the reply.
"Den, if dey were _nod_ smuggled in, dey are somewhere on der recordsof der Custom House, ain'd id?"
Mr. Latham snapped his fingers with a sudden realization of thispossibility.
"Schultze, I believe that is our clew!" he exclaimed keenly."Certainly they would have been listed by the customs department; andcome to think of it, the tariff on them would have been enormous, soenormous that--that--" and he lost the hopeful tone--"so enormousthat we must have heard of it when it became a matter of publicrecord."
"_Yah_," Mr. Schultze agreed. "Diamonds like dose dupligates of derKoh-i-noor, der Orloff und der Regent could never haf passed throughder Custom House, Laadham, mitoud attracting attention, so?"
Mr. Latham acquiesced by a nod of his head; Mr. Schultze satregarding him through half-closed eyelids.
"Und if dey are _nod_ on der Custom House records," he continuedslowly, "und dey are _nod_ smuggled in, den, Laadham, _den--MeinGott_, man, don'd you see?"
"See what?"
"Den dey are produced in dis country!"
For a minute or two Mr. Latham sat perfectly still, gazing into theother's eyes. First he was startled, then this gave way toincredulity, and at last he shook his head.
"No," he said flatly. "No."
"Laadham, ve Amerigans produce anyding," the German went onpatiently. "In eighdeen hundred und forty-eight ve didn't knowCalifornia vas full of gold; und so late as eighdeen hundred undninedy-four ve didn't know der Klondike vas full of gold. Dergreadest diamond fields ve know now are in Africa, bud in eighdeenhundred und sixty-six ve didn't know _id_! Dere iss no reason veshould _nod_ produce diamonds."
"But look here, Schultze," Mr. Latham expostulated, "it's--it'sunheard of."
"So vas der Mizzizzippi River until id was discovered," the Germanargued complacently. "You are a diamond dealer, Laadham, bud youdon'd know much aboud dem from whey dey come at. Iss Czenki here?Send for him. He knows more aboud diamonds as any man vat everlived."
Mr. Latham sent an office boy for Czenki, who a few minutes laterappeared with an inquiry in his beady black eyes and a nod ofrecognition for Mr. Schultze.
"Sid down, Mr. Czenki," the German invited. "Sid down und draw along breath, und den dell Mr. Laadham here someding aboud diamonds."
"What is it, please?" Mr. Czenki asked of Mr. Latham.
"Mr. Czenki, have you any very definite idea as to where thosediamonds came from?" asked Mr. Latham.
"No," was the unhesitating response.
"Is it possible that they might have been found in the--in the UnitedStates?" Mr. Latham went on.
"Certainly. They might have been found anywhere."
"As a matter of fact, were any diamonds _ever_ found in the UnitedStates?"
"Yes, frequently. One very large diamond was found in 1855 atManchester, across the James River from Richmond, Virginia. Itweighed twenty-four carats when cut, and is the largest, I believe,ever found in this country."
Mr. Latham seemed surprised.
"Why, you astonish me," he remarked.
"Vait a minute und he'll astonish you some more," Mr. Schultze put inconfidently. "Vere else in der United States haf diamonds beenfound, Czenki?"
"In California, in North Carolina, and in Hall County, Georgia,"replied the expert readily. "There is good ground for the beliefthat the stone found at Richmond had been washed down from themountains farther in the interior, and, if this is true, there is asubstantial basis for the scientific hypothesis that diamond fieldslie somewhere in the Appalachian Range, because the diamonds found inboth North Carolina and Georgia were adjacent to these mountains."He paused a moment. "This is all a matter of record."
His employer was leaning forward in his chair, gripping the armsfiercely as he stared at him.
"Do you believe it possible, Mr. Czenki," he asked deliberately,"that Mr. Wynne has found these diamond fields?"
The expert shrugged his slender shoulders.
"It is possible, of course," he replied. "From time to time greatsums of money have been spent in searching for them, so--" He wavedhis hand and was silent.
"Zo you see, Laadham," Mr. Schultze interpolated, "ve don'd knowanyding much. Ve _know_ der African fields, und der Australianfields, und der Brazilian fields, und der fields in India, bud ve_don'd_ know if new fields haf been found. By der time you haf livedso long as me you won't know any more as I do."
There was silence for a long time. Mr. Czenki sat with impassiveface, and his hands at rest on the arms of the chair. At last hespoke:
"If you'll pardon me, Mr. Latham, I may suggest another possibility."
"_Vas iss?_" demanded Mr. Schultze quickly.
"Did you ever hear of the French scientist, Charles Friedel?" Mr.Czenki asked, addressing Mr. Latham.
"Never, no."
"Well, this idea has occurred to me. Some years ago he discovered twoor three small diamonds in a meteor. We may safely assume, from thefact that there were diamonds in one meteor, that there may bediamonds in other meteors, therefore--"
The German importer anticipated his line of thought and arose with aguttural burst of Teutonic expletives.
"Therefore," the expert went on steadily, "is it not possible thatMr. Wynne has stumbled upon a huge deposit of diamonds in somemeteoric substance some place in this country? A meteor may havefallen anywhere, of course, and it may have been only two monthsago, or it may have been two thousand years ago. It may even beburied in his cellar."
The huge German nodded his head vigorously, with sparkling eyes.
"It seems extremely probable that if diamond fields had beendiscovered in the Appalachian Range," Mr. Czenki went on, "it wouldhave become public in spite of every effort to prevent it; whereas,it is possible that a meteor containing diamonds might have beenhidden away easily; and, also, the production of diamonds from sucha source in this country would not make it necessary for the diamondsto pass through the Custom House. Is it clear, sir?"
"Why, it's absurd, fantastic, chimerical!" Mr. Latham burst outirritably. "It's ridiculous to consider such a thing."
"I beg your pardon," Mr. Czenki apologized. "It is only aconjecture, of course. I may add that I don't believe that threestones of the size of the replicas which Mr. Wynne produced herecould have been found anywhere in the world and brought in here--smuggled in or in the usual way--and the secret held against thethousands of men who daily watch the diamond fields and market. Itwould not be difficult, however, if one man alone knew the source ofthe stones, to keep it from the world at large. I beg your pardon,"he added.
He arose as if to go. Mr. Schultze brought a heavy han
d down on theslim shoulder of the expert, and turned to Mr. Latham.
"Laadham, you are listening to der man who knows more as all of uspud in a crowd," he declared. "_Mein Gott_, I do believe he'sright!"
Mr. Latham was a cold, unimaginative man of business; he hadn't evenbelieved in fairies when he was a boy. This was child-talk; hepermitted himself to express his opinion by a jerk of his head, andwas silent. Diamonds like those out of meteors! Bosh!
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